The ACC released its preseason All-Conference team this morning, and notably absent from the offensive roster is everyone's favorite receiver, Stefon Diggs. Diggs, who has been placed on the preseason watch list for several awards was voted on to the team as a kick return specialist.
The two guys who got the starting spots are no chumps. Michael Campanaro, from Wake Forest, had the best season of his career last year. He racked up 763 yards and 6 touchdowns over only 10 games. He missed 2 games of his junior campaign with a hand injury, including Maryland's 19-14 win over Wake in early October.
The other starter, both of whom were voted in by the media, is Sammy Watkins from Clemson. While he had a monster of a freshman year in 2011 with over 1200 yards and 12 touchdowns, he hit a sophomore slump of sorts last season. Still productive, mind you, with 708 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he missed 3 games during the season and was sidelined on the first play of Clemson's bowl appearance against LSU, when he hurt his ankle and fumbled on a running play.
Stefon had more yards receiving than both of these guys, and did it on less receptions overall. With 6 touchdowns he sat tied with Campanaro, though both trail Boston College's Alex Amidon, who was also left off the starting list. Most impressively, Stefon racked up his 848 yards with four different quarterbacks and a linebacker throwing him the ball, not the ACC player of the year like Sammy Watkins had.
The ACC released the top four vote-getters at each position, and Diggs ranked third at wideout, just one vote behind Campanaro.
Hopefully this serves as another chip on the shoulder for Diggs and the Terps. With Deon Long coming in and a (please AMQBHG) consistent QB tossing him the ball, Diggs is poised for another big year. Will it be enough to garner recognition from the ACC in his last season in the conference? That remains to be seen.
Here's the full list:
2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Team
Offense
WR Sammy Watkins, CU
WR Michael Campanaro, WF
TE Eric Ebron, UNC
T James Hurst, UNC
T Morgan Moses, UVA
G Tre' Jackson, FSU
G Brandon Linder, UM
C Bryan Stork, FSU
QB Tajh Boyd, CU
RB Duke Johnson, UM
RB James Wilder Jr., FSU
Defense
DE Jeremiah, Attaochu, GT
DE Kareem Martin, UNC
DT Nikita Whitlock, WF
DT Timmy Jernigan, FSU
LB Jack Tyler, VT
LB Christian Jones, FSU
LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, BC
CB Ross Cockrell, DU
CB Lamarcus Joyner, FSU
S Tre Boston, UNC
S Jason Hendricks, PITT
Specialists
PK Chandler Catanzaro, CU
P Will Monday, DU
SP Stefon Diggs, MD